Monday, 3 March 2014

Vinisud 2014

Three days at Vinisud, the Mediterranean wine fair, can only be
described as challenging to both stamina and taste buds, but it is also great
fun, as you never know who you might meet, or what you might get to taste. The fair has grown enormously since the very
first fair, back in 1994 when it filled just one hall. These days there are eight halls. And you can taste wines from all around the
Mediterranean, and even from parts of France and Portugal that have no
Mediterranean seaboard. Naturally I
concentrated on Languedoc Roussillon, and indeed hardly strayed out of the Languedoc I was there to catch up with some old
friends and to make some new discoveries.

Sunday evening kicked off with the Vinifilles’
tasting at Mas de Saporta. They had
decorated the large barn with colourful balloons and streamers so that there
was more a party atmosphere than serious tasting. However, there were some lovely wines to try.
My highlights included 2011 Les Tarrasettes from Clos de l’Anhel
in the Corbières and 2012 Lilith from Mas Seren
near Anduze. I had to miss out on the
aligot and the Vinifilles’ song as I was then bidden to Domaine
de Verchant, a rather elegant hotel in the outskirts of Montpellier. Philippe Modat of Domaine Modat in Roussillon
had invited me to an evening of fifteen wine growers from Roussillon, each
showing one wine, accompanied by a small dish, created by a chef of
their choosing. The chefs were given
full range and their creativity was unrestrained, which in some instances
resulted in too many complicated flavours in one tiny dish. As it happened, my favourite combination was
Philippe's, his white De-ci, De-làwith a croquant de crevette asiatique. Frédérique Vaquer spoilt us with her 1988
red wine which was an elegant but mature blend of Carignan and Grenache, with
some spicy fruit. The accompanying dish
was described as aiguillettes de canard catalan et sa réduction laquée, with navets de cerdagne, or more
prosaically some duck in a sauce and a slice of turnip!

The next morning I started off with Château la Baronne, thanks to a chance
encounter with Paul Lignières.
I do believe in letting serendipity determine some of my tasting
programme, and Paul’s
wines were showing very well. Then I had an appointment with a helicopter,
courtesy of Jeanjean - more on that experience anon. Back on terra firma in the afternoon, my
friend Patricia Domergue was showing several vintages of Clos Centeilles and in
the evening I discovered, thanks to Graham Nutter of Chateau St. Jacques d'Albas, a new restaurant in Montpellier, l'Alliance des
Plaisirs. It is run by a husband and
wife team; he cooks and she is front of house.
The kitchen is open plan so you can watch Vincent Valat in
operation. Graham brought along a couple
of magnums, so the evening promised well!
.Vincent cooks a set menu each evening, so the only decision to be made
was fish or meat. And we compared Château St. Jacques d’Albas
from his first vintage, 2001, with Chapelle de St Jacques 2003, the first
vintage of that particular cuvée. It was a fascinating comparison; both were
delicious, but the 2001 was the more elegant of the pair, while the 2003 was
still rich and concentrated.

Tuesday morning saw me at an off, as the French call fringe events. One of the region’s
better cavistes, Caves 41 had put on a tasting of their Languedoc suppliers at
the Château la Blanquière in Mauguio. Hugo Stewart from les Clos Perdus had
suggested that I attend, and what a good tasting it was. More details in due course.

Back at the fair, I wandered round the St. Georges d'Orques
stand, tasting some promising 2013s as well doing an update on the wines of
Domaine la Prose. Bertrand de Mortillet’s white wines are particularly
delicious. Diane Losfelt at Château l’Engarran
has made a late harvest Grenache, Caprice, in 2013, the first vintage since
2008. It smells of chocolate and tastes
of chocolate cherry liqueurs, with a refreshing streak of tannin. And then I had a long overdue catch up with
François and Laurence Henry from Domaine Henry, also in St.
Georges, and promised a cellar visit.

Other highlights included some Pic St. Loup, notably Bergerie du
Capucin and the latest wines from Domaine Mouscaillo in Limoux who were
celebrating their tenth vintage. Gavin
Crisfield’s 2013 La Traversée Cinsaut is to die for –
what a pity he has sold it all even before it is bottled, and his 2011 La Traversée
is wonderfully elegant with an explosion of fruit. On the Domaine Ravanès
stand I compared 2012 Petit Verdot with dense solid ripe fruit, with 2002 Le
Prime Verd, also pure Petit Verdot, but you weren’t allowed to say so back then. It was rich and cedary and mature and had
not lost any intensity. Clement Mengus’ wines from Domaine de Cabazan in Cabardès continue to
delight. He made his first white wine in
2012, from Chenin blanc, Grenache Gris and Roussanne, with a touch of honey and
some satisfying mouth feel and length.

And by way of relaxation that evening, thanks to my friends
Catherine and Bernard, I was introduced to yet another restaurant, this time
with a wine shop attached, De l’Art et du Cochon. There isn’t a wine list; you just wander round
the shop and chose a bottle off the shelf.
So we enjoyed some refreshing glasses of Laurens Graimenous Crémant
de Limoux and then strayed hors region as fair as the Loire valley for a
delicious Saumur rouge, Clos de la Cerisaie, from Domaine Mélaric.

And the next morning I just had time for one quick visit to the
fair before whizzing off to the airport.
There were some older vintages on the Faugères stand including a beautifully
elegant 2005 Domaine Peyregrandes. And
my final bonne bouche was Domaine de la Rencontre’s new wine, Poète, a late harvest Muscat with no
added alcohol. It was rich and honeyed,
and elegantly concentrated, with a long lingering finish.

2 comments:

It does seem to have become overblown as an event. Eight halls is surely far too big. Mind I'd love to have been there and hopefully will make the 2016 event. Hopefully a lot more to report Rosemary? Interesting that Cinsault emerges well again, it seems to be emerging as a serious variety from a number of domaines. Thanks as ever

About Me

What qualifies me to write and comment on the Languedoc? Quite simply, I have been following its development for thirty years. I was one of the first women to pass the Master of Wine exams, back in 1979, and I became a freelance wine writer in 1981, since when I have written eleven books, covering not only the Languedoc, but also Chablis, Tuscany and New Zealand.

Why the Languedoc?

My very first visit to a wine cellar in the Languedoc was in 1979 and I have returned regularly since then, researching two books, firstly French Country Wines, and subsequently The Wines of the South of France, from Banyuls to Bellet. French Country Wines was published in 1990 and took me off the beaten track to many lost vineyards of France, but inevitably the Midi formed a large part of the book. In those days you sensed the beginnings of a revival in the fortunes of the region; some of the estates with a serious reputation today, were leading the way back in the 1980s, such as Gilbert Alquier in Faugères; Daniel Domergue in the Minervois; Domaine Cazes in Rivesaltes. Aimé Guibert had made his first vintage at Mas de Daumas Gassac in 1978 and set an unprecedented price expectation for a wine from the south of France. Alain Roux was making pace-setting wines at the Prieuré de St. Jean de Bébian. Other reputations have faded and many others were yet to be made. My visit to the Pic St. Loup focused on the cooperative at St. Mathieu de Tréviers, and on that cooperative alone. The leading names such as l’Hortus, Mas Bruguière, Mas de Mortiès, Clos Marie, or Domaine de Cazeneuve were as yet quite unknown. The same phenomenon applies to the village of Montpeyroux, whose wines were also represented by the village cooperative. At the time no one foresaw the enormous development that would take place in the 1990s.Nonetheless back then, the Languedoc intrigued me. On the last day of my last research trip for French Country Wines, back in October 1987, I had lunch in Narbonne with Claude Vialade, who was the export director for one of the big players of the region, les Vignerons Val d’Orbieu, an enormous marketing and export association of cooperatives and smaller wine producers. One of us said: there is a book to be written on the Languedoc. I mentally filed the idea and ten years on, and two or three books later, I embarked on The Wines of the South of France, which covered all the vineyards between the Spanish and Italian borders, including Provence as well as Languedoc Roussillon, and also the island of Corsica. The Wines of the South of France was published in 2001 and examines the vineyards of the Midi as they were on the eve of the millennium. I could write a second, comparable book, featuring only wine growers who have started making wine in this century. But these days it is impossible to keep abreast of the pace of change with the printed word; the region demands the immediacy of the web. Numerous research trips only served to fuel my enthusiasm for the wonderful region of the Languedoc. Holidays in gîtes between Perpignan and Draguignan, as well as snatched weekends in the middle of research trips, enabled my husband and I to decide on our favourite corner of the Languedoc. And in 2004 we bought a house within easy reach of the towns of Pézenas and Clermont l’Hérault, which gives me a wonderful base for visiting the local wine growers. Our village does not have a particular reputation for its wine, but many of the nearby villages do. We are in very easy reach of Faugères, St. Chinian, some of the highlights of the Coteaux du Languedoc and the new area of Pézenas, as well as the Vin de Pays des Côtes de Thongue, which is one of the more innovative of the numerous vins de pays of the region. So with this blog, I hope to keep abreast of some of the many new and exciting developments in the region

Introduction to the Languedoc

Why the Languedoc? Quite simply, it is without doubt the most exciting and innovative wine region of France. Everything is possible; the appellations may lay down ground rules, but the parallel vins de pays allow for unlimited experimentation, creating a host of new and exciting wines. Over the last twenty years or so this vast vineyard, which stretches from the Spanish border round to the delta of the Rhone has undergone a dramatic transformation, so that the wines have improved out of all recognition. And that pace of change continues unabated, with each vintage bringing new wine growers and new wines. Those are the wines and people I want to talk about, as well as old established favourites. And since wine goes with food, I do not intend to ignore the rich gastronomy of the region. And I also reserve the right occasionally to extend this blog beyond the confines of the Languedoc, into Provence and Corsica and maybe even further afield.